Alternative depth-averaged models for gravity currents and free shear flows

Numerical Flood Simulation by Depth Averaged Free Surface Flow Models

The GeoClaw software for depth-averaged flows with adaptive refinement

Many geophysical flow or wave propagation problems can be modeled with two-dimensional depth-averaged equations, of which the shallow water equations are the simplest example. We describe the GeoClaw software that has been designed to solve problems of this nature, consisting of open source Fortran programs together with Python tools for the user interface and flow visualization. This software ...

A depth-averaged μ(I)-rheology for shallow granular free-surface flows

The μ(I)-rheology is a nonlinear viscous law, with a strain-rate invariant and pressure-dependent viscosity, that has proved to be effective at modelling dry granular flows in the intermediate range of the inertial number, I. This paper shows how to incorporate the rheology into depth-averaged granular avalanche models. To leading order, the rheology generates an effective basal friction, which...

Noncircular converging flows in viscous gravity currents

We study the filling of a dry region ~cavity! within a viscous liquid layer on a horizontal plane. In our experiments the cavities are created by removable dams of various shapes surrounded by a silicon oil, and we measure the evolution of the cavity’s boundaries after removal of the dams. Experimental runs with circular, equilateral triangular, and square dams result in circular collapse of th...

Numerical simulation of lava flows based on depth-averaged equations

Risks and damages associated with lava flows propagation (for instance the most recent Etna eruptions) require a quantitative description of this phenomenon and a reliable forecasting of lava flow paths. Due to the high complexity of these processes, numerical solution of the complete conservation equations for real lava flows is often practically impossible. To overcome the computational diffi...